"Tens of thousands of Russian troops are in Ukraine"

"Tens of thousands of Russian troops are in Ukraine"

BERLIN -- Petro Poroshenko, who is in Berlin for a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has said that the Minsk agreement is "not working."

The Ukrainian president, demanding an extension of the sanctions again Russia until the end of the year, also said that Russia "no longer recognizes red lines and is waging a war against Ukraine."

"The whole world needs to understand that Russia is waging a war against Ukraine. It started with the Russian separatists who in the spring of 2014 received Russian weapons. And since the summer regular Russian troops have been in Ukraine, tens of thousands of soldiers. The only way to stop this war is a complete withdrawal of Russian troops," said he, and also demanded "a boycott of the World Cup," due to be held in Russia in 2018.

Poroshenko "praised the diplomatic engagement of Merkel and French President Francois Hollande," but said the Minsk agreement was "not working," describing as "a hope, not the reality."

According to Poroshenko "Ukraine has fulfilled every single point" of the ceasefire agreement.

"Russian fighters, however, did just the opposite," said he.

Poroshenko added that Merkel's dialogue with Russia was "extremely important for Ukraine" and, on the occasion of the upcoming Victory Day parade in Moscow, which Merkel will not attend, said that "what Russia is doing now has nothing to do with the ideals that led to victory over the Nazis in World War II."

When asked "how he sees Russian President Vladimir Putin when they have conversations," Poroshenko "gave the example of a Ukrainian pilot, a woman, imprisoned in Russia."

"I asked Putin - when will you finally free her. She...